Head of Strategic Initiatives

Renesas Electronics•San Jose, CA

8h•Onsite

About The Position

The Performance Computing Power (PCP) division designs and ships the full range of computing-power solutions serving the most demanding compute markets in the world: AI and data center, hyperscaler infrastructure, networking, and high-performance computing. We are a top supplier to customers that define the AI era: Nvidia, AWS, Google, Microsoft, Meta, AMD, Intel, ARM, Cisco, Arista, Supermicro, all major Taiwan ODMs, and other leading global AI providers and hyperscalers. The division has scaled approximately eight-fold in four years, cresting $1.5B in 2026, with a goal of doubling again within two years. This hypergrowth phase creates the need to multiply the GM’s effectiveness by offloading execution detail so the GM can focus on high-value customer engagement, industry presence, leadership team development, and strategic positioning for the next phase of growth. The Head of Strategic Initiatives is the GM's strategic operator, executive communicator, and thought partner. The role amplifies the GM's leverage by: Acting as a strategic sounding board, shaping, testing, and challenging the GM’s thinking before it is communicated publicly. Owning the analytical and written spine of the GM's most important decisions and external communication. Driving 1–2 strategic projects per quarter that the GM owns but cannot personally staff. Serving as the GM's proxy in rooms where the GM's perspective is needed but presence is not.

Requirements

8–12 years of total professional experience, with at least 3–4 years in one of the following: Top-tier strategy consulting (McKinsey, Bain, BCG, or comparable); Strategy / BizOps / Chief of Staff role at a technology business of meaningful scale; or Corporate development, strategy, or special projects at a semiconductor, hardware, or hyperscaler company
Track record of leading cross-functional initiatives and delivering results (not just analyses) at the executive level.
Experience operating in a hypergrowth or scaling environment is strongly preferred.
A strong technical foundation and high intellectual curiosity are required. The right candidate will be motivated to learn the technology quickly and deeply, without pretending to be an engineer.
Exceptional communicator — produces one-page memos and executive narratives that an SVP, CEO, or board will read and act on. Communication is the single most important skill in this role.
Strategic thinker — takes an ambiguous question, frames it cleanly, and drives it to a decision-ready answer.
Operationally rigorous — closes loops, runs tight working sessions, never lets things fall through the cracks.
Business literate — fluent in P&L, gross margin, design wins, backlog, capex, and the levers that move them.
Technically curious — can hold a working conversation about power conversion, end-markets, and product roadmaps after a reasonable ramp.
High emotional intelligence — reads rooms, manages up and across, holds confidences, gives hard feedback well, and never confuses proximity to the GM for authority of their own.

Nice To Haves

Semiconductor experience is not required.

Responsibilities

Lead 1–2 GM-priority initiatives per quarter end-to-end — from framing the question to recommendation to execution handoff. Examples: 5-year strategy refresh, competitive teardowns, design-win economics review, new market entry analysis, M&A target diligence, organizational design.
Build the analytical spine for major decisions: structure the question, pull data with finance, sales operations, product, and marketing, pressure-test assumptions, and write the memo the GM will act on.
Own the GM's written read-out on division strategy to ELT and other key partners — the narrative, not just the deck.
Facilitate the GM's staff meeting: own the agenda, ensure presenters and topics are prepared in advance, circulate pre-reads, and run the meeting with extreme efficiency.
Bring the strategic frame to the AOP cycle: what the division is betting on, why, and what tradeoffs the leadership team is being asked to make. The Head of Business Operations owns the process; this role owns the strategic content.
Work with the GM’s direct reports to structure, prepare, critique, and evaluate semi-annual product-line deep dives. This role owns the timing, agenda, preparation, and execution of the deep dives.
Drive follow-through on GM commitments out of staff, offsites, and customer meetings; close loops the GM cannot personally close.
Curate the GM's external calendar: which customers, which conferences, which keynotes, which analyst briefings — and what the GM should walk away with from each.
Prepare the GM for high-stakes customer meetings: account context, history, open commercial and technical issues, the ask, the desired outcome.
Travel with the GM where helpful and represent the GM where appropriate.
Represent the GM in select internal forums where the GM's perspective is needed but presence is not. Listen on behalf of the GM: surface issues, tensions, and opportunities the GM would want to know about — including the uncomfortable ones.